Category: Anole Art, Literature, and Humor Page 1 of 11

Field Drawings of Anoles in the Dominican Republic

Yes, the distichus looked that angry when I caught it!

When I was a kid, my favorite thing to do was go outside with my rainbow zebra-stripe notebook and draw any living thing I could find. Often, especially for the animals, I would include little comments and blurbs about the things I observed them doing, or make up stories about them. As the years went by, I slowly forgot about that book, until I was hired as a research assistant last summer to study anoles in the Dominican Republic with the Frishkoff Lab at UTA.

The week before I was scheduled to leave, I went out and bought a new sketchbook, not knowing if I would actually end up doing anything with it. Luckily, I did, and so I’m here to share a couple of my anole sketches that I did on my trip. While not all the information may be completely accurate, it’s just what I noticed about them while I was drawing and studying them. (Note: For the locations, those are specific to the sites that we were studying while we were there and not the complete ranges).

I hope that you enjoy them, and let me know which ones are your favorites! I think mine are the A. barahonae and A. armouri.

While I unfortunately did not get to actually see an A. eladioi, I still drew one in the hopes that I might.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A. cybotes, showing off as always.

With Apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Everyone Who Loves Anoles

Some would say there is a glorious history of anole-inspired poetry; others would say there is a history. But everyone can agree that it has been brief. Regardless, the best—and worst—of this work has been featured on Anole Annals (and nowhere else*). Last week, with multiple looming grant and paper deadlines, plus a lecture (or two or three) to write, I didn’t anticipate adding to this history (after reading the below, you’ll be glad that it is, now, history). However, I did open Twitter which is a pretty good sign that I was running out of useful ways to procrastinate. Near the top of my feed was this tweet/reply combo from Ken Feeley and James Stroud:

Without question, these are both great titles, but they brought another to my mind:

Anolis, how do I love thee?”

Having begun, and with procrastination as my muse, I couldn’t stop there and leave the thing unfinished. But, before you read further, if you’re not familiar with the famous poem whose title I have modified (i.e. ruined), you can read it here. It may help make sense of what follows (or maybe not). Regardless, to the memory of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and all appreciators of beautiful (or any other kind of) literature, I am deeply sorry.

Anolis, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My lasso can reach, when clinging out of sight
For the ends of twigs and trunk and grass.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Sampling size, by sun and head-light.
I love thee freely, as we strive for statistics right.
I love thee purely, as they remain robust.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old hypothesis, and with my co-author’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost data. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if the AE choose,
I shall but love thee better after the reviews.

 

So there it is. You may tolerate it or hate it. No on agrees on literature (very loosely defined) anyway. However, if there’s one thing we can agree on, it is that the whole thing is James Stroud’s fault (just kidding, James, I take full responsibility).

I posted the ‘poem’ on Twitter and so it is only fitting that Twitter should have the last word. Thus, I’ll leave you with this reply to my tweet from one of my past PhD students, which I think sums up the whole experience rather nicely:

*This isn’t actually true, but hey – artistic license. It turns out anole poetry has featured elsewhere and the history hasn’t been that brief either: https://www.anoleannals.org/2012/07/11/anole-poetry/

Anoles in the Hot Seat on the Ologies Podcast

UCLA professor Shane Campbell-Staton was recently interviewed on the science podcast  Ologies, hosted by Alie Ward. Shane is a thermophysiologist and anolologist (you may remember the stories about A. carolinensis and the polar vortex on AA a couple of years ago (here, here, and here). That’s not all Shane has going on though; his lab is branching out in lots of different directions (listen to learn about some cool/hot new projects) and he’s also hosting The Biology of Superheroes Podcast. As per usual, Shane’s interview is filled with jaw-dropping factoids (bees that cook their wasp predators), words of wisdom (write tomorrow’s to-do list every night before bed), lots of lizards, and many an endearing anecdote (though we never did find out who wins Superman vs. Ali).

You can listen to the full interview here, or on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

From Trash to Art: Anole Conservation Through Community Engagement

 

(Top) A recycle themed community workshop resulted in this amazing anole artwork, designed to spur the recognition and conservation of Utila’s endemic Bica Anole – Anolis (Norops) bicaorum (photographed bottom).

Community engagement and local acknowledgment of important species is essential for effective conservation. On Utila Island, researchers at Kanahau Utila Research & Conservation Facility have been working hard to not only research and document populations of the endemic Anolis (Norops) bicaorum, but also increase community awareness and recognition towards this local lizards conservation plight.

An excellent example and interactive method found to raise awareness is through the creation of art!

Prior to a community based ‘recycle themed’ workshop held on Utila Island, Honduras, staff and volunteers at Kanahau (and other collaborators- Utila Beach Clean-Up Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center (WSORC), the Bay Islands Conservation Association (BICA) and Utila Handmade Co-Op) performed beach cleans with the intention of sourcing suitable washed up plastic materials (i.e. bottle caps, polystyrene, etc), from which to re-purpose and use in our conservation-themed art!

With the kind inspiration, help and guidance of abstract artist Yioula Koutsoubou, we created some conservation-themed murals from the collected plastic materials, inviting children from the local schools to be involved. The event was held and artwork assembled throughout the day at the public park (a prominent location in Utila town), and so many people stopped to watch the artwork progress and ask questions. Overall, it was fantastic to see collaboration between the island NGO’s, as well as children,  locals, tourists (people of many ages) attending, all being involved, helping and importantly learning about the conservation issues surrounding Utila’s biodiversity.  In addition to the Anole art, a Sea Turtle mural was also created; which is currently positioned for all to see above a small recycle area in town (promoting the importance of limiting disposable plastics/sorting and recycling domestic waste). The Anole Artwork now hangs ‘pride of place’ on the front of the Kanahau Facility (located adjacent to Pumpkin Hill – the site observed with the highest anole abundance). Here (visible to all who pass by on their scenic route up the hill) it serves to honor the populations of Utila’s endemic anoles, whilst spreading appreciation and recognition for the species!

Why make Anole art on Utila? – Preliminary observations and research from the Kanahau facility (funded by MBZ) suggest that populations of Utila’s endemic anoles are substantially threatened owing to the unsustainable expansion and development of agriculture, infrastructure and the tourism industry (see N . bicaorum – Brown et al. 2017;  and Nutilensis – Brown et al. 2017). The greatest threat to these species is considered the loss of their primary hardwood forest habitats, of which less and less sadly remains. Environmental education and engagement of the local community with key issues (such as biodiversity decline and the importance of protecting island resources/habitats) is considered essential for successful conservation of these anoles.

* Many thanks to Yioula Koutsoubou, Andrea Albergoni, Daisy Maryon and the many others who assisted with the event that day!  A big thanks to all the islands NGOs and workshop collaborators (Kanahau, WSORC, BICA, Utila Beach Clean & Utila Handmade Co-Op ) for organizing and supporting the event!

Anole Annals World Cup: Round One

It’s June. It’s orchid flowering season in Grand Cayman. And with nods to #Anole March Madness and  #MammalMadness it’s the opening round of the 2018 ANOLE WORLD CUP. #ANOLEGOOAAAAALLLL!!!!

Home Team – Anolis conspersus  – against –  Away Team – Anolis sagrei

And in less than 90 seconds it’s all over.


The teams are on the pitch

 


The Away Team

 


The Home Team heads to mid-field

 

 


The Striker takes aim

 


Home Team – 1, Away – nil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anolis proboscis: Ugly and Famous

Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder.

Photo by D. Luke Mahler

For Simon Watt, the author of “The Ugly Animals: We Can’t All Be Pandas”, the horned or Pinocchio anole, Anolis proboscis is ugly.

 

 

 

Perhaps an unfair title, but any press is good press isn’t it? A. proboscis (above, and featured many times on , such as here and here), is listed in the book as one of 60 animals, that are “ugly”, i.e., not as endearing as the Panda. The aim of the book is to highlight critically endangered animals that may not be adorably cute or beautiful, but nevertheless still entitled to our help and conservation efforts.

So next time you see a WWF poster advertising “Save the Panda”, spare a thought for the many other animals that need some love too.

Anole Celebration of Darwin’s Day

Happy Darwin’s day everybody!

Darwin Day

This is the third serial year in which I have remembered Darwin Day in Anole Annals. In the first time, Jonathan Losos made a wise comment in citing the words of Darwin about an anole (read his comment here). That’s why, this year, I have added two pages from ‘The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex’ in which Darwin wrote about the sexual selection of Anolis cristatellus and Sitana.

 

Short Film Featuring P. J. Darlington and Anolis sagrei

In a new film,  Anna Lindemann uses predation by Anolis sagrei  on a group of beetles to explore the evolution of Batesian mimicry. Anna combines her interests in biology, art, and music to produce animations and live productions that explore processes in developmental biology and evolution.

Anna’s newest release, titled “Beetle Bluffs,” is inspired by the observations of biologist P. J. Darlington. Darlington might be most familiar to blog readers as the namesake for the Haitian anole, A. darlingtoni. In 1938, Darlington published a brief series of experiments examining the consumption of beetles with differing color patterns by A. sagrei. He concluded that Batesian mimicry was likely occurring, in which the color patterns of the inedible Thonalmus beetles are mimicked by several other edible beetle species in order to avoid predation. “Beetle Bluffs” combines stop-motion animation and archival material from Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology to bring life to this story. Enjoy!

Darlington, PJ. 1938. Experiments on mimicry in Cuba, with suggestions for future study. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 87: 681-695.

A Beatlesque Song about Lizards in Love


You must click on this link and listen to the song (click the red circle in the upper left corner of the page). Then come back here and read the rest.

Anole In Love – The song the Beatles would have written if they were green anoles! This lovely ballad is the work of Monty Harper, who writes: “I write songs that convey what I find awesome about science: the questions, the methods, the passion, dedication, and creativity of the people who do it. My inspiration comes from speaking directly with scientists about their latest research projects.”

This has Top 40 written all over it, all it needs to do is get produced. Help make it happen by going to Monty’s Kickstarter page and making a donation. But, hurry–the deadline is Friday.

Anole Photo Contest 2013–Time To Vote!

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